Two Murderers To Serve Life Sentence

High court in Masaka has sentenced two brothers to life imprisonment for murdering their in-law.

The two, Leonard Ssemulima and Patrick Alideki were convicted by Justice Frank Rugadya Atwoki following proof that on 5th November 2011, they connived to murder their in-law Joyce Komujuni.

They accused her of killing their other brother Matayo Ganyana, who was also murdered in 2009.

Komujuni had been arrested and released due to lack of evidence linking her to her husband’s murder. But soon after her release, the family plotted to kill her in vengeance, a result of which she relocated to Ntungamo before returning to Makoole Village in Sembabule district where she was eventually killed.

According to the charge sheet, the accused persons dragged Komujuni from her home to a certain spot near Makoole trading center about one kilometer away.

Carrying her one-year-old baby, she was maimed by the violent brothers who used machetes, stones, sticks and bricks to end her life.

They reportedly dragged her body in the middle of the road and dropped the baby on it as it lay in a pool of blood. This went on as Patrick Sebasajja (12), another of Komujuni’s children, watched helplessly.

Sebasajja and other eyewitnesses brought the matter to the attention of the village chairman Herman Ssuuna, who reported the matter to Mpumudde Police post.

A postmortem report indicated multiple bruises and a penetrating wound on the skull.

On 13th December 2011, Ssemulima, Alideki and another of their brothers Vincent Ssensayi were arrested and produced in court. Ssensayi was convicted earlier after pleading guilty to the offence and was jailed for 27 years in 2014.

Prosecution led by Simon Semalemba appealed to court to sentence the accused to death for the inhuman action but the defense lawyer pleaded for life sentence of the accused saying they were first-time offenders.